Summer Honey Bee Problems In Lake Worth

June 29, 2018

Like any city or town, Lake Worth has its positives and negatives. The same can be said for having honey bees around. While there are undeniable reasons why we need to protect honey bees and their populations, there are other valid reasons why it is not good to have these stinging insects growing their populations in our backyards.

Identification Of A Honey Bee

If you see a relatively thin bee that measures around ½ to ¾ of an inch in length, hovering around blossoms or flower beds, it is likely a honey bee. Honey bees are usually oval-shaped and have a golden-yellow color with brown bands. (It is thought that these dark and light stripes serve the purpose of being a warning sign to predators that they have the ability to sting) The body of a honey bee is segmented. It has a stinger, legs, antenna, 3 segments of the thorax, and 6 visible segments of the abdomen. These bees represent a small percent of bee species and are best known for producing and storing honey (liquified sugar) and for building impressively large nests.

How Important Are Honey Bees

Honey bees are not only important because they give us honey. They play a major role in the pollination of countless plants around the world. Honey bees accomplish pollination by unwittingly transferring pollen from one flower to another. Without pollination, many plants would cease to reproduce and would eventually die out. The list of foods is extensive: apples, kiwi, guava, strawberries, cashews, avocados, beans, coffee, figs, limes, carrots, cucumber, watermelons, broccoli, eggplant, berries, cocoa, tomatoes, grapes, and cotton, to name only a few. For this reason, it is important that we protect populations of honey bees.

The fact is, scientific evidence shows us that honey bee populations are decreasing. The rate of decrease was so alarming that the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a bill called the Pollinator Protection Act, which helps to protect honey bee populations. This demonstrates how important this issue is and shows how it is vitally important that we each do our part in protecting pollinators, including honey bees.

Dangers Of Having Honey Bees Too Close For Comfort

While it is extremely important to protect honey bees in our world, it is not necessary to allow them to nest on our properties. If the population of a nest grows too big, the colony will get ready to swarm. This is where the queen bee, and about half of the nest's population, will leave the nest to establish a new home. This is a dramatic event as perhaps tens of thousands of bees will stream out of the hive together. Stopping briefly at a nearby location, scout bees will begin looking for a suitable location for a new hive. Once a decision is made, the swarm will fly off to begin building their new home. While this might be exciting and interesting to watch in a documentary, it would be decidedly unpleasant to have it happening on your property.

Honey bees are known to sting when they feel threatened, when they are protecting their hive, and if they are brought into close contact with a person. These stings can be excruciating and are even life-threatening to a small percentage of people who have an allergic reaction to bee venom.

A bee's stinger is barbed and is located at the end of its abdomen. When a honey bee stings, its stinger, along with its venom sac and other parts of the body, are pulled out and left behind (which kills the bee). The sting takes effect rapidly and, if the stinger is not removed quickly, symptoms will gradually increase as the venom sac continues to pump venom into the wound. Because of the barbs on the stinger, it often becomes lodged in the tissue. And, like one bee sting isn't bad enough, when a honey bee stings, it releases an alarm pheromone which alerts other workers in the colony to come and defend the colony as well.

How Nozzle Nolen Can Help

While it is vitally important to allow honey bees to exist and do their job of pollinating the food sources of the world, it is also important to protect yourself and your families from dangerous stings. Because of this, if you find a nest on your property, it is important to consult with a pest management professional. The professionals here at Nozzle Nolen understand the habits and habitats of honey bees and will use protective gear and specialized training to properly and safely deal with honey bees that have gotten too close for comfort.

I just want to say thank you for freeing my home from the pests that we have been dealing with for the last few weeks…I was so impressed when the Service Tech showed up on time and was so professional…I look forward to visits in the future. Thank you Nozzle Nolen for having such professional experts in the field of pest control.

Daniel - South FL

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